Steinbeck's Texas

“I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox. But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing. For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study, and the passionate possession of all Texans.”

John Steinbeck

mentors #2

#drredduke

mentor #1

communion

Time is a rarified commodity for me. Such is the nature of the beast of training to be a physician, both in the aspect of the hours demanded but also in the aspect of trying to stave off death for the patients. Caffeine and adrenaline are well known tools to any in the trade. Even relaxing involves an element of hurry. Hurry up and get home to furiously decompress. Always balanced against fatigue. Before it is time to go back and do it all over again. So even my beloved task of writing often takes a back seat to other more pressing matters, usually sleep. But one commitment I have kept is giving blood. I always make time for it. It has become a sacred ritual of remembering. It is a communion in the truest sense of the religious term. A communion with memories, motivations, unanswered questions, struggles, sufferings. Do this in remembrance.